Sunday, December 27, 2009

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was wonderful. I very much enjoyed spending time with our family & friends on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had freezing rain and snow which made for a hazardous trip for some. I'm so glad everyone was able to make it here and safely home.

One of the highlights of our Christmas was surprising my husband (Santa himself!) with just what he wanted for Christmas~an Old English Sheepdog puppy!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

This necklace was inspired by a found object challenge from Erin of Treasures Found. The challenge for this week was "Grandma's Jewelry Box" ~ to make something new out of an old treaure in your jewelry box (or someone else's!).

This brooch belonged to my grandma. I think it's just beautiful. I keep it in a dish on my dresser and usually wear it during the Christmas season because of it's beautiful red color and shape.

I used assorted gold beads, Czech Fire Polished beads and some small Swarovki crystals in red, and gold wire. I attached the brooch with a jumpring without harming the original pin back. What a fun challenge!

Friday, December 4, 2009

I used small seed beads, two cut 6/0 seed beads, and Czech Fire Polished beads, all in shades of copper on dark copper wire and added a small copper pendant. I'm always drawn to copper. It's just one of my favorites!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

"Madison" is created with Rose Quartz beads on silver wire and has matching earrings. There are a lot of beads in this one, assorted shapes and sizes. Most of them are fairly large so it's a nice chunky one, yet the soft shades of pale pink and white give it a delicate look.

This month marks the anniversary of my journey into wire crochet. On November 21st last year our daughter was in a serious car accident. She was hit by a drunk driver who didn't stop at a major highway intersection. While sitting with her during the weeks after the accident, I began experimenting with wire crochet. The journey has continued for a year now and I still love it! I'd like to thank the ladies I have "met" online for their kind words and encouragement and the ladies locally who have purchased my designs!

I'd also like to say how thankful I am for the blessing of family. I love you all and am so thankful for every one of you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

This is the second necklace I've done for Ann. The first was in shades of blue and was posted last July. I received a call from her asking if I would make another necklace for her to match a favorite pair of earrings. The earrings are shown in the photo along with the necklace. The necklace is done in shades of amethyst and purple using Czech glass fire polish beads and glass seed beads on silver wire. Thanks, Ann! I hope you'll be happy with it!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I mentioned awhile back that I had bought a box of beads at a garage sale. These are some more of them. At the time I thought I'd never use them, just not really my style, but of course I didn't get rid of them! I was looking through them the other day and saw possibility. Wood, bone, & turquoise. Together they all had an organic feel. I mixed them up and started stringing. That's the magic of wire crochet! Just string them up and see what comes out! Copper seemed to be the accent to use with this scheme. I used tarnish-resistant copper wire and added a textured copper washer. The earrings are smaller copper washers that I also added texture to.

I'm sure most everyone already knew this, but I just recently discovered that you can click on the picture and get an enlarged version. This shows a lot more detail!

~Today's Quote~

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I've been thinking about doing a Giveaway for awhile now and thought one of these little halloween bracelets might be a good place to start! These are from my September 24 blog post. The winner can choose their favorite from the three shown.

To enter, just leave a comment! Due to the shortage of time, this will be a quick one! I'll draw a random number at noon on Friday, Oct 23. If you don't have a blog, please be sure to include your e-mail address so I contact you if you're the winner. Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I wish it was April instead of October, but I do love the colors of fall! Autumn Jasper is so pretty.

This is a nice chunky necklace. It's heavily beaded with Autumn Jasper chips crocheted on bronze wire and loosely braided. The large oval pendant is adorned with a little accent made from a Vintaj brass piece.

Friday, October 2, 2009

This one is different than any I've made before. The "centerpiece" is three strands. It's attached on each side to a single crocheted chain with large copper jumprings. It's all done on dark copper wire. I'm really not sure what these beads are but I think they're glass chips. The picture really doesn't show the beautiful color of these. They have a little bit of a shine to them and look like a yard full of fall leaves!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Can you believe it? I'm actually ahead of the game! That never happens! It seems everywhere I looked in the last month I saw Fall & Halloween. I found these Halloween charms and thought they would make cute bracelets. I used 6/0 seed beads crocheted on black wire for all of them.

Our local dollar store already has Christmas stuff out. Ew! I don't even want to think about that yet!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

"Josie" is a mix of amber, bronze and antique gold. Glass seed beads and bugle beads are crocheted on bronze wire. I added a Vintaj natural brass filigree ring and a Czech fire polished bead attached with a large brass jumpring. This is one of my all time favorites!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

This is another one of my stamping experiments. I stamped "Happy" on a metal washer and added a little bee charm and Czech fire polished crystal. The beads are a color mixture called "Honey Butter" which seemed appropriate!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

(Sigh) ... Summer is ending and we're beginning to feel fall in the air.

This necklace symbolizes the transition from summer to fall. It includes the bright green of summer and the colors of autumn- yellow, orange, red & bronze. There are six strands crocheted with glass beads on non-tarnish bronze wire. I used a brass leaf and a glass leaf shaped bead for the pendant.

~Today's Quote~

"Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh so mellow

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain so yellow"

Do you remember this song? We used to sing it in chorus and I always loved it.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

For this necklace & earring set I used Amazonite and Cherry Quartz. This one was kind of a challenge for myself. The challenge was to use more than one color and be somewhat asymmetrical. I always seem to use various shades of one color and even though I don't usually plan a specific pattern in wire crochet, the beads are fairly balanced as far as size and color. I used a lot of Amazonite chips, tossing in just a few Cherry Quartz beads and a Cherry Quartz chip every now & then.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

This is a simple go-with-anything necklace in antique silver. I crocheted two strands on silver wire, then added a solid strand of bugle beads and a floral engraved pendant. The bugle beads reflect the light with movement giving it some sparkle!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I've been wanting to try metal stamping. Recently I bought a set of metal stamps and some copper washers to play with. My sister and I were talking about it and I asked her to give me a word. Her word was "Inspiration". This is what I came up with. I stamped the word on the washer and gave it some texture. The necklace is crocheted using copper and dark brown wire and frosted purple ab seed beads. The pendant is layered on a filigree square with a purple Czech Fire Polished bead and an aqua Swarovski crystal.

~Today's Quote~

"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.”

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Like many of you, I have a great fondness for skeleton keys. My keychain itself is a large skeleton key and on that keychain are two skeleton keys that have a lot of sentimental value to me. One belonged to the front door of my childhood home and one belonged to my grandmother. I have carried these for years.

For this necklace I used a mix of antique silver beads on silver wire which combined with the key makes a very monochromatic color scheme. I added a red Swarovski crystal heart which (I think) was just the right touch.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

This is a custom order for a lady named Ann. I've never met her and she has only seen a small sampling of my work. She requested a necklace and earrings in shades of blue to go with a dress she's wearing to a wedding later this month. She was very specific about the colors and the length of the necklace and earrings which helped a lot. I'm a little nervous as this is my first custom order! I hope she'll be happy with it!

~Today's Quote~"Blessed are we for every day we are here on this earthto grasp our family, friends and the beauty of each day."Elma Evans Smith

Thursday, June 25, 2009

This necklace is crocheted on gold wire using a mix of beads in chartreuse, gold, and antique gold. There are different sizes of gold and green seed beads plus bugle beads in each color. I added a round filigree pendant and a "fringy" dangle. I really like this one, but of course, this shade of green is one of my favorites. The bugle beads and little gold lined beads really sparkle. I don't do too much in gold even though I prefer it because silver seems to be more popular, especially with the younger crowd.

Friday, June 19, 2009

This is kind of a fun one! I've had the shell pendant for quite awhile and have been waiting to find beads to go with it. I finally found these frosted purple beads with an "ab" finish that have both the purple and blue color.

~Today's Quote~

"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not."

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

This is another one of the Celestial Crystal donuts in "Vitrail". I also used Vitrail 8mm firepolished beads as accents. I am in love with this pendant! It just glows, shimmers, and changes colors as you move.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Does anyone remember the song "Daisy Bell"? Part of it goes like this:Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer doI'm half crazy all for the love of youIt won't be a stylish marriageI can't afford a carriageBut you'll look sweet upon the seatOf a bicycle built for two.That's what this necklace makes me think of. I used 6/0 seed beads and cute glass beads in the shape of daisies and circles.

~Today's Quote~

God wouldn't have made me this creative if He'd wanted me to cook and clean!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

"Deja" is made with Celestial Crystal in Pink AB. AB is a finish, "Aurora Borealis", which adds a prismatic effect to the beads. I've never used Celestial Crystal before but when I saw the new "donuts" I decided to give it a try. It's really pretty & sparkly. I love the donut pendant! I ordered these in a few different colors so expect to see more soon!

~Today's Quote~

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June."

Thursday, May 28, 2009

"Cierra" is created with two sizes of brown seed beads with a slight variation in color and some 4mm cube beads in "metal teal iris matte" which really match the colors and finish of the ceramic pendant. The seed beads appear a little purple in the photo but they are brown! There are three strands, two are crocheted and one is a solid strand, all done on brown wire.

Monday, May 25, 2009

I called this necklace "Paris" because it reminds me of Paris Apartment decor. It's ooh la la sparkly! I used Jet and Rose Swarovski crystals and 3 cut Jet seed beads. I tend to hoard my Swarovski crystals because they're sort of pricey but, boy, do I love them!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I thought it would be fun to start naming my pieces. This one is called "Whitney". It means "from the White Island" which seems fitting. It's loaded with shades of white and clear Czech fire polished beads and seed beads. The pendant is accented with little Swarovski crystals.

~Today's Quote~

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time,

Thursday, May 14, 2009

These beads are so pretty and sparkly. They're a combination of pink and green in the same bead. The picture just doesn't do them justice!

What are fire polished beads you might ask (or not!). If you're interested, here's a description from another website. "Fire polished beads from the Czech Republic are a faceted glass bead. The intense heat of the furnace "fires" the facets smooth. The result is warm flashes of refracted fire, boiling up from the interior rather than the intense surface reflections of a Lap-Polished bead."

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I must confess most of the beads and the pendant in this set came from a necklace that was on a clearance rack. I really liked the beads and pendant and thought I could use them to make something else. They're small wood beads in natural and olive green. I used most of the beads and findings and added some brown seed beads of my own.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I got to take a little "mini" vacation last week. I took a few beads with me (Beads don't take up much room in a suitcase!) and had some time to play.

In her blog, Eye for Color, Beverly Ash Gilbert asked what your favorite color combination is. http://beverlygilbert.blogspot.com/ Well, mine is pink and green! I love pink and green, separately or together, whether it's in pale shades or fuchsia and lime green! I had a couple packages of pillow beads that I hadn't opened yet and some fire polished beads that matched so they went into the suitcase. I made these bracelets, one pink, one green and two mixing the colors. They make me think of green grass and pink roses!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

And thank you to my sister, who is a very talented photographer, for her sweet blog post! http://lou-2009.blogspot.com/ I think she may be exaggerating just a little!

Now, on to the necklace! Mixed metals are "in" right now. This one includes a strand of gold, silver and copper wire along with an assortment of beads in gold, silver and copper. The pendant is a "dangle" including each color and some small fire polished beads.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

This necklace has lots of black glass bicone beads and black seed beads. I also added some silver lined clear beads to brighten it up a little and match the silver wire. The pendant is a little flower charm layered over a teardrop disk with a little black bead dangle.

~Today's Quote~

"Got 'er to do - Git 'er done!"

This quote comes from one of my youngest daughter's classmates! The reason I used this quote today is because along with warmer weather comes mowing. I really dislike mowing and weed- eating but because I've "Got 'er to do" I guess I better get out there and "Git 'er done"!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

This is another necklace done on dark copper wire. There's an assortment of Czech fire polished beads in shades of brown, bronze and amber with a mother of pearl and copper pendant. I use these colors a lot. It has kind of a vintage look that I like.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

This is an Easter bracelet for a very special young lady, my 8 year old granddaughter. She saw the necklace made with these beads and liked it. Aqua is her favorite color right now and she commented it's "just my colors"! She seems to like the things I make so I'm hoping she'll like this.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

A couple of years ago I bought some beads at a garage sale. Included was a container of all colors and sizes of seed and bugle beads. They look so pretty all mixed together, like a little treasure chest! I think there's every color imaginable. I thought it would be fun to start stringing them and see what happened. As I was working on it, it reminded me of the beads in the 70's, so I added a peace sign dangling from a little rainbow bead.

I had to get really close to show the true color and variety of the beads in this necklace. There are quite a few different sizes and shapes, from large cat's eye to Czech glass flower beads and small sparkly glass beads to small diagonal drilled square cat's eye beads, all in shades of sky blue.~Today's Quote~"More than anything I must have flowers, always, always, always."~Monet

Friday, March 27, 2009

Well, it's a dark rainy day so I couldn't get a very good picture. And snow is in our forecast for tomorrow. Happy Spring, huh?

This is a month of firsts, I guess. This is the first time I've made a complete set with necklace, bracelet, and earrings. I love these colors. These are Autumn Jasper chips in shades of green and orange on dark copper wire.

~Today's Quote~

"I do not understand how anyone can live without one small place of enchantment to turn to"

~Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

My special place of enchantment is Eureka Springs. I hope you can think about yours and forget about the weather outside!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Attaching to each side of a focal is something I haven't tried before. I used one strand of brown wire and two strands of copper wire with a cluster of copper fire-polished beads on each side and attached them with jump rings. I really like how it turned out.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Sparkly brown and gold Czech fire-polish beads and a variety of seed beads with a solid strand of smaller brown seed beads woven in. It's finished off with a dark copper filagree pendant. This one goes to Katie if she likes it.